AIBU to be annoyed after my operation was cancelled at hospital?

[TheOpalFox]

Would you be annoyed if you travelled an hour to go to your operation… and you had the gown on and socks and they cancelled ???????? Due to staff issues. ? :(

I sympathise. I was gowned up ready to be taken down when the consultant came in a told me that he’d looked at a scan I’d had six months previously, and I didn’t need surgery after all. You’d expect that he might have looked at the scan before I was given a date for surgery. That was 15 years ago, but I suspect things are far worse now.

It’s a bloody nightmare.

Cancellations, no appointments, no one gives a flying fuck.

It’s happened to me before. It’s one of those things

Someone, somewhere will have statistics on how common emergency cases are, especially for something relatively common like c-sections, and it should be possible to plan to the average number a day and leave that many slots free ( admittedly this doesn’t work so well for specialities where emergencies are rare). They’d still go over some days but it would be less common, and I’m sure the staff could find something to do if they didn’t get any emergencies. I suspect what’s actually happening is the nhs is so cash strapped and waiting list so long, that they cram in as many as they could fit if everything goes perfectly and no emergencies, then something happens and the people at the end of the list get bumped.

emergency theatres are routinely staffed separately from the elective ones (even in obstetrics that should be the standard these days). Very occasionally there will be something that cannot wait long enough for the next emergency space or something that absolutely has to have a particular person's skill set and that might need to bump an elective list. However, that would not really be a 'staffing issue' and they'd probably have said it was an emergency case that bumped things, because, lets face it, most people would not be so overtly peeved at being bumped for someone who was so sick they couldn't wait. 'Staffing issues' more likely mean that the rota has fallen apart for some reason or other and there were not enough people with the necessary skill set to cover that list, and when services are run on bare minimum staffing because that's all that's available then there's knock on effects. A huge amount of pressure is put on before lists/cases go down and it is never a light decision. There is an expectation that the postponed procedures should be rescheduled withing 28 days or a financial penalty will be incurred (which diverts cash from actually providing a safe service). HCPs are all humans who also, from time to time, need to access healthcare/ have families that need procedures, so we do all understand that last minute postponing does have implications... it happens to us as well as non-medical folk.

Well, yes obviously- there are CEPOD lists but with any statistical model it is not going to be accurate on a micro level (day-to-day) basis but maybe ok over a longer period (a year, for example).

The anecdotes on this thread will be from those people that were affected by the emergencies that cannot be accounted for using data. There will be plenty of those whose elective surgeries have not been affected by emergencies - they will be blissfully unaware (rightly so) that there was an emergency case in another theatre so you won’t hear their alternative view point.

But even with no emergencies it goes wrong, like mine I posted above
they had no clue it was going to take a full day and they had to pull a bowel surgeon in to theatre as well
i had ultrasounds, MRI, and an MDT meeting but from agreeing the op to the date of the op, everything had got way worse

Not at all! You psych yourself up for any surgery and this is so frustrating! I had this happen In a private hospital - was on nhs - was laid on bed in anaesthetic room, all electrical pads in place and canular in hand when was told by Surgeon the sterilised kits x 2 were both unable to be used as a hole ^^was found in both of the tray covers so it not sterilized. It was a big surgery and I had made lots of plans for it so I was distraught

I can add some words of wisdom to this…

This is part of my job in the nhs to go to the admissions unit and give people this bad news! I hate doing it.

It is awful and I always feel dreadful for the patients but sometimes emergency patients present and they take priority, doctors are off sick and we need to move rotas round or there is power outages in operating theatres or if patients are high risk, a level 1 bed in ICU has to be booked for their recovery and again if emergencies have come in and taken that bed - it’s a situation beyond our control.

We have also had situations where patients haven’t stopped anti-cogulation medication, so pose a serious risk, or have eaten after a certain time, or their blood tests have showed derangements or patients who clearly have coughs and colds or anaestists and/or surgeons who deem for whatever reason the procedure too risky eg if they’ve been assessed and consented by one doctor but another doctor deems their condition to have either deteriorated or they don’t agree with the plan and ultimately it’s their call. We also have cases where they’ve not had MRSA swabs done within the timeframe.

From speaking to colleagues in other trusts it happens all the time but we always warn patients that there is a chance that this might happen with any of the above scenarios - it’s part of the consent form now that all patients, or a representative if they don’t have capacity, are required to sign and confirm they understand.

I appreciate tho it is upsetting for people. I had an older lady last week who’s daughter had booked the week off work and people who’ve paid for kennels for their pets etc and the nhs do not refund lost wages/annual leave or pet kennelling or any transport costs associated with these cancellations.

A few weeks ago I broke my leg in the garden at 8am and by 1pm I was in theatre getting it fixed... Someone who was coming in for a routine op hadn't turned up so I got lucky as the Surgeon had a space.. the person after me would have been delayed because mine took quite a while. Listen, of course yes it is annoying but these things have so many moving parts, all human people with their lives and all that entails and almost everyone is working with the very best of intentions.

when i was hit by a car (travelling at 50mph) all of my consultants planned surgerys for that day were cancelled, because he spent the entire day in theatre trying to stop my leg from being amputated. (which he managed with 4 operations over a few years)

Yes im sure this was annoying to those who were waiting for their operations that day and had been nil, by mouth since the night before, but it it was it is.

The NHS prioritses on who has the greatest need now.

Yes its annoying for those whose operations get cancelled, but it is what it is,and without all the staff, and operating theatres, and clean equipment, and beds for people to go into after their operations there is not much they can do, if any of those become unexpectedly anavailable

Not your fault but what happens to the older lady if the daughter cant book any more time off work.

Of someone needed care after a procedure and a family member is unable to do this, a package of care is organised before the patient is discharged either a respite placement or carers at the patients home.

Anaesthetist.

On the day cancellation for non-patient reasons are pretty rare in my institution. We had a big system failure recently that took out a day of operating. We managed to cancel the afternoon patients before they left home.

A surgeon's Dad died recently and none of his colleagues could cover so his list got cancelled.

Honestly, we all know the prep that goes into surgery for patients - time of work, childcare, food prep for afterwards, accommodation costs. We don't want to cancel at all and often stay late to make sure all the patients get their operations.

Patient reasons for cancellations are much more common - unwell, didn't fast appropriately, turned up with no escort to go home.

How on earth would any healthcare system organise this? Unless you are attending a site that ONLY does elective work there will always be a risk of multiple emergency patients arriving and needing the theatre space. Even if you were at an elective surgery only hospital if a person before you has complications in theatre that will disrupt the rest of the list. That happened to my relative waiting for acute surgery - person in the bed next to them went to theatre, should've returned to the ward a few hours later but instead did not return and we were told theatre was 'busy' and the list was delayed - I would guess that she had complications during her operation and was being resuscitated in theatre. How would you organise that? Have an extra theatre and full set of staff (surgeon, anaesthetist, ODP staff etc) empty and on stand by at all times in all hospitals? That's insanely expensive and inefficient, not to say impossible with current staff shortages.

Annoyed, yes, absolutely. It's incredibly stressful, frustrating and upsetting

But also, I would be understanding. These things can't always be predicted. There's too little slack in the system unfortunately.

My relative was in for heart surgery on Friday and he was warned that, as he's last on the list (least complicated) that there would always be a possibility of his being cancelled if the ones before him end up more complex than anticipated or emergencies coming him Thankfully it was just very delayed (due to an emergency patient) but went ahead

Staff don't want to do this. It's not about being rude or inconsiderate but it is awful for patients when it happens and definitely annoying.

Are you for real? You do realise that elective surgeries get cancelled for serious emergencies IE life saving operations? Not ideal but it happens. If you want zero chance of that happening then go private.

I would be annoyed if clarity wasn't given about the reason for the cancellation, alongside an apology and a rescheduled date that was also cognizant of my needs and availability.

In my experience one of the most significant issues with the NHS is dreadful communication, an inability to comprehend that patients have commitments as well as NHS staff and a general "computah sez" attitude from people who seem to care not a jot about the impact on patients, their familoes and also their employers. The impact on GDP due to lpst working hours is incalculable.

Not necessarily, maybe someone became ill whilst on duty making it unsafe to do the surgery!

YANBU, but things happen. My husband went to Guy's Hospital, London, for a varicose vein operation. He was all ready for theatre, when they were inundated with victims of a RTA. He had to come home, and be rebooked.

What are they expected to do if the surgeon calls in sick on the day? There will not be a spare surgeon with equivalent expertise sitting around doing nothing ready to step in so surely they have to cancel. Lists usually stay pre 8am and obviously it’s not always possible to know the night before that you will be too sick to work. Drs are notorious for pushing themselves through almost anything because they are only too well aware of how much trouble their absence would cause but if the surgeon has D&V or they were in an RTA on the way into work you aren’t going to want them operating on you. I have had friends work through chemo and Chrons flares when they should have been off but they couldn’t stand the guilt of cancelling. There is another side to this and some things can’t be helped

No point in being annoyed. It is what it id

It's disappointing but not the end of the world. No need to be annoyed they're cancelling for good reason not because they can't be bothered.

Imagine being the poor soul that had to tell you that the op was cancelled. That's where the sympathy should lie.

Imagine being poor And not being able to afford endless taxi fares and to take time off your low paid job to keep coming into hospital only to have it cancelled again. This is why the NHS needs to be a bit more truthful when complaining about patients who dont turn up

Every time there’s a thread ranting about someone daring to come to work sick so many people say it should be some sort of rule that if you’re sick in ANY WAY whatsoever you must stay home. Whether that’s a mild sore throat, cough you’ve had for 3 months already, runny nose etc etc. Nope you absolutely MUST call in sick because NO ONE WANTS YOUR GERMS! Oh and don’t forget you can’t send children to school with any of these symptoms either so parents need to take time off to look after them for the above. Oh and people need to be allowed time off if they haven’t slept well. Need a “mental health day”. Get signed off sick for weeks or months if a pet dies or any relative at all even if you weren’t that close to them.

Ive asked on many of these types of threads what are hospitals etc supposed to do when half their staff called in sick. Everyone replies with “well they just need to organise cover” as if it’s that easy. There aren’t hundreds of doctors and nurses all just sitting at home waiting to be called to cover for two to four weeks because someone’s child has woken up with a mild sore throat which will likely just be a mild cold but they now need to stay home for the entire time. Even better if they then catch it as well so now that Doctor has been off for 6 weeks even though they could easily have worked through it.